Wire fence.



PATENTED OCT. 20, 1903.

J. KAUFMAN.

WIRE FENCE. APPLIOATION FILED D30. so, 1902.

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UNITED STATES Patented October 20, 1903.

PATENT ()EEICE.

WIRE FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 741,798, dated October 20, 1903. Application filed December 30, 1902. Serial No. 137.141. (No modelJ To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J ONAS KAUFMAN, residing at Newcastle, in the county of Lawrence and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Wire Fence, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of picket fences in which metallic picket members are employed having clips or notched portions for engaging the wire strands; and primarily my invention seeks to provide a fence of the character stated in which the parts are relatively arranged to permit of a rapid setting up of the fence at a very low cost for material and labor and in which the parts are especially designed to be easily manipulated and assembled and when joined to form a strong, durable, and neat fence.

My invention in its more complete nature comprehends a peculiar construction of metal picket having a special design of integral clips or wire-strand-holding members; and in its still more subordinate features my invention consists in certain details of construction and peculiar combination of parts, all of which will hereinafter be fully explained, and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a fence embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a front view of a picket with the strand joined therewith. Fig. 3 is a vertical section thereof on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of the same on the line 4; 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the pickets disconnected from the strands. Fig. 6 is a view of a slightly-modified form of my invention. Fig. 7 is a detail section, on a slightly-enlarged scale, of the upper end of Fig. 3, the tongue 3 being shown bent back through the slit 2.

In carrying out my invention the wire strands a a are made fast to the posts I) b, which may be of wood or metal, of any ap proved form and to which the said strands a, are secured by staples 1, as shown, or in any other well-known manner.

The essential feature of my invention lies in the peculiar construction of the pickets d, all of which are of light construction, and a detail description of one will therefore suffice for all.

Each picket d consists of a fiat metal plate having a series of apertures l" for the passage therethrough of wire strands that may be run at right angles to the front face of the plate, and at suitable intervals the plate 1 has longitudinal depressions on the rear face, which form convexed ribs or corrugations on the front face, as indicated by 2, which add strength and rigidity to the body of the plate and overcome the portion of the plate weakened by the openings W made therein, presently again referred to. At the upper end of the depressed portions 2 the plate (1 is formed with inverted U shaped slits 2, whereby to provide at the upper end of the portions 2 tongues or clip members 3. The tongues or clip members 3 have longitudinal depressions in their front face, as at 3, whereby to present conveXed longitudinal corrugations or ribs 3 on the rear face thereof, which extend their length for reasons presently explained. The convexed ribs on the body of the plate and the concaved depressions in the face (1 merge at the point indicated by 00, and the said ribs or depressions in practice are simultaneously made by passing the plate at through suitably-constructed rolls having die-faces to properly form the said convexed and concaved depressions shown and described, and while the U shaped slits may be out under a separate operation the said slits and the longitudinal corrugations may be simultaneously made by suitable machinery, it being also understood that the several depressions and slits may be formed in the plate consecutively as it passes through the machine lengthwise, or all of'the depressions and the slits may be made by one stamping operation.

In the manufacture of the pickets d the tongues are pressed out sufficiently from the face of the plate to permit slipping the wire strands a between the said tongues and the body of the plate, and the tongues or clips are bent at the points where the two longitudinal ribs meet, which is at the lower end of the U-shaped openings, as indicated by X. By bending the tongues at the point stated and by reason of the merging of the convexed and concaved portions, as stated, the said bent ICO portion is rendered one of great strength and rigidity. The longitudinal depression in the tongue elfects another and important result,as it produces a convexed rib facing opening W, which when the said tongues are bent back under pressure bears against the strand a (see Fig. 4) and causes it to bend or buckle, as at a, into the opening W, and thereby holds the picket from lateral as well as vertical play upon the strands.

Instead of havingall ofthe tongues or clips face upward, as described, the said clips may be arranged in pairs and projected in opposite direction, as indicated in the modified form shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

From the foregoing, taken in connection With the accompanying drawings, it is believed the advantages of my improved construction of fence will be readily apparent. Among its advantages should be mentioned the inexpensive manner in which the pickets can be made, the increase in the rigidity of the same at the points where the tongues are cut out, and the increased strength added at the point where the said tongues or clip members are bent out from the body of the plate, and the simple manner in which the clips can be pressed back without the necessity of using any special tool or device therefor. Again, the bending back of the clips causes the strands to buckle or bend into the openings 2, whereby a tight interlocked condition of the pickets and the strands is secured in a quick and effective manner.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a fence of the character described; the combination with the posts and the wires secured thereto; of pickets, each consisting of a flat metal plate having a series of vertically-alined corrugations, n-shaped openings in the vertical plane of the corrugations, tongues that join at their lower end with the vertically-alined corrugations, said tongues being pressed into the n-shaped openings and corrugatedin the direction oftheirlength, the corrugated faces thereof being on their rear side whereby to bend and clench the wires in the n -shaped openings, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination with the strands aand the posts; of a picket consisting ofa flat plate having a series of vertically-alined longitudinal corrugations pressed outward from the rear side of the plate, openings in the plate at one end of said corrugations, the ends of the corrugated portions having extensions shaped to fit the openings of the plate, the said tongues being corrugated longitudinally, the corrugations being pressed from the front face rearwardly, the oppositely projecting corrugations of the tongues and the body of the picket ending at the base of the n shaped openings, as specified.

JONAS KAUFMAN.

Witnesses:

J OHN A. McKEE, L. A. JOHNSTON. 

